11 Step guides to starting a Business

In this post, you will be learning the step by step guide to starting your own business.

If you want to be an entrepreneur you should know the goal for any business is to earn profit at the same time providing good value to your eventual customers.

But one should know there are steps requirements, and rules you need to know before starting your own business.

We all want to open a business to be our boss and not rely on a job that may replace us anytime but You should note that starting a business calls for hard work and persistence during times that may seem inconvenient to you.

And there is no best time to start a business than now with over 500,000 small business opening every month. Yes, the competition may be tight but what is a successful business without competition?

Now let’s check out the 11 step-by-step instructions to start your own business today.

Step guide to starting a Business

1. Research on your Industry

The first thing to do in starting a business is understanding your business industry distinctly.

You should know general information, statistics and reports about your industry, you also should analyze and learn your competition what they do and how you can be better than them.

A way to do this is by getting information from your potential customers (like giving out surveys) or better still a very good site to use to get more information on your industry is thomasnet.com.

This platform helps you get valuable insights on your industry choice, connects you to suppliers and much more.

jaggaer is also another good site to use to research on your industry both do quite the same thing when it comes to analyzing any industry. Having a great passion for what you doing are is the beginning of every successful business.

Also don’t be reluctant to ask questions from an already established business person in your industry, check out potential competitors’ websites and see what they are doing to get a better perspective of what you want to achieve.

If you are still deciding what kind of business to get into checkout the video below!

2. Write a business plan

The business plan is a written description of your business. It is a blueprint of any business.

A business plan should contain what is the purpose of your company, your goals and, your motives behind your business.

Writing a business plan will enable you to outline the strength and weaknesses of your business.

If you contemplate having financial support from an investor a good business plan will do.

A good business plan should not have less than twenty pages but still, it shouldn’t be the final goal of your business because a business plan can always be updated. A good business plan Template contains;

Executive summary

Company Description

Target market

Products and services

Financial plan

Management Team

Appendices

3. Finance your business plans

Funding your startup business is an obvious requirement for any business, there are multiple ways to get the money to fund your business.

The first method and most popular is to personally fund your business this will give you full ownership of your profits and decision making.

If you don’t have enough money to start your business they are several options like getting loans from banks, venture capitalists and angel investors would be a good option to choose.

That is why a good business plan is essential because this is what they will request from you before they decide to grant your request.

If you reside in the U.S you can try out SBA.gov they give loans, contracts, and other forms to assist any startup business

4. Get a business location

Getting a business location is crucial in a lot of ways for your business even though your business may be based online it will be favorable.

It will help you gain trust from your customers and business partners. Because them knowing where your business operates makes them believe what you are doing is legitimate.

Either you buy, Lease or even rent an office space it will do. You might not start with something fancy, Just remember that the Microsoft of today founded by Bill Gate started in just a garage.

5. Choose your business name and logo

A business name and logo is the first impression your business gives to new customers and let existing customers stay put.

A good business will clarify what your business is all about at first glance.

Make sure your business name creates familiarity with your brand the name should be easy to read and pronounce you should make it memorable for example If you google “eaten Apple” the result will always be the famous iPhone logo this shows how unique Apple has been.

6. Structure of your business

Every legitimate business has its structure you have to decide on what type of business structure you will like to open.

There are mainly four types of business structure namely;

Sole proprietorship: This is a single business owned by only one person.

General Partnership: A type of business that consists of two or more individuals coming together with both equal assets to form a business.

Limited Liability Company: LLC is a type of business structure that protects business owners from personal lawsuits, it is formed by either one individual or more.

Corporation: A corporation is a type of structure that is formed by shareholders who have ownership of the company. A corporation is supervised by the board of directors and it also has limited liability.

7. Register your business

Making your business legal starts with registering your brand name this will protect your business make sure your business proposed name is available to use.

You can register your business within your state or local government or with federal agencies for more info on how to register your business based on your country visit ger.co or if you reside in the US sba.gov is a good site to check.

8. Apply for licenses and permits

A business license is an approval given to you by the government agencies to allow a business to operate within the government’s geographical jurisdiction.

Applying for licensing could be part of the registration of your business it is usually based on the type of business you are doing.

Some approved may sometimes be renewed annually. For more info on licensing your business, you should visit sba.gov.

9. Create a website

A proper website will attract a lot of your prospective buyers and give them a good first impression.

Not having an online presence will as a business owner will affect your business badly.

A business website should briefly state what your business is all about, contact information and it should be mobile-friendly. If you plan on opening a website now you create one easily on Weebly joining will guarantee a 10% off and a free domain on your first subscription. Plus it’s an excellent website builder if you plan to sell through your website.

10. Open a business bank account

You should not use your bank account for your business to avoid using your business profits on your expenses instead, open a checking and savings business account.

When choosing a bank to open your business account consider choosing a well-established bank in your region, most banks today provide almost similar benefits. There are several factors to take before choosing a bank for your business.

Apart from opening a bank account, you should also open an online payment system that supports online transfers for worldwide transactions to go smoothly. some popular platforms to use are:​

Paypal

Skrill

Stripe

Payoneer

Venmo

11. Promote your business

Now your business is live and ready to go there are several ways to promote any business but the most promising of them all will be Social media marketing.

Now a day’s most businesses rely on social media for their businesses to grow.

Email marketing is also a good option just make sure not to spam your customers.

Ways to promote your business

Register your Business on Google my business

Podcast

List your business on Yelp.

Social media

Use to popularize Quora

Optimize your Websites for search engines

Email marketing

After reading this step guide to starting a Business we hope you now get a full understanding of how to start a business.

Starting a business requires a lot of hard work, sacrifice and dedication congratulations on your forthcoming startup our best wishes to you on your journey to success.

Also, promise yourself to never give up no matter what you may go through because with your drive to achieve you will surely overcome the challenges and obstacles in your way and see success at the end of the day.